‘They tried to wipe it out’: the problem with talking about Asperger’s
The diagnostic terms for autism were overhauled 10 years ago. Experts, campaigners and autistic people reflect on these changes
Chris Bonnello, 37, was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome in 2011. But these days he just says he’s autistic. “A lot of us did not want to let go originally, it was something that fitted us very nicely,” recalls the teacher turned autism advocate who runs a website called Autistic Not Weird from his home in Nottingham. “But it is better for autistic people if we are all recognised, acknowledged and appreciated together.”